The major emphasis of our research will be on the mechanism of uptake and integration of DNA during transformation in Haemophilus. A prime objective is the identification of the sequence or structure in Haemophilus DNA responsible for the specific uptake of DNA by competent cells. The discovery of vesicles in Haemophilus that bind DNA in a specific and DNase resistant form should provide us with the material to determine the mechanism for uptake of DNA. We propose to further purify these vesicles and identify the proteins or assembly responsible for the loose and tight binding of DNA. Antibodies to protein made during the development of competence will be used to assay for the synthesis and fate of the competence apparatus. Mutants deficient in competence will be used to define the uptake and integration processes and for this purpose we will attempt to clone these functions in pBR and lambda or in Haemophilus plasmids. Attempts will be made to develop a recA in vitro recombination system that can be assayed biochemically and biologically by transformation. Haemophilus plasmids will be tested as cloning vectors and attempts will be made to use them for cloning Haemophilus com- and restriction-modification genes.